Through the Looking Glass (episode)
In the "mirror universe," Sisko must persuade the alternate version of his dead wife to join the Terran Rebels, or he will watch her die a second time. Summary As the episode opens, Sisko, Odo, and Quark are in the station commander's office debating the disposition of 27 Cardassian voles which Sisko claims are intended for fighting - apparently Quark and Morn were discovered painting numbers on the voles' backs, even though Quark claims that they were Morn's pets. Sisko orders that the voles be confiscated, suggesting that if Morn wants new pets, he can get some goldfish. Sisko then walks out into Ops, where he where he tells an unnamed lieutenant that "Ops is yours" and walks toward the turbolift landing... just as the car arrives carrying O'Brien, who is out of uniform. As O'Brien steps off the turbolift he tells Sisko that he needs to converse privately, then draws a phaser. However, Sisko immediately orders the Ops crew to stand down. After ordering Sisko onto the transporter pad, O'Brien waves a multidimensional transporter over the normal transporter controls, after which O'Brien and Sisko transport to a raider and Sisko asks where they are. "I guess you could say we just stepped through the looking glass," O'Brien says in reply. O'Brien leads Sisko into another compartment, and Sisko disarms him. At barrel's end O'Brien confirms that they are in the mirror universe, that the Terrans have started a rebellion against the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance, and that the rebellion at issue was led by the mirror universe Sisko... until he was killed. In the face of "our" Sisko's demands to be taken back to his own universe, the mirror universe's O'Brien explains that in his universe Jennifer Sisko is very much alive, working for the Alliance on a trans-spectral sensor array that will enable the Alliance to root the rebellion out of their bases in the Badlands. In closing O'Brien explains that if Sisko will not retrieve her from Terok Nor, the rebels will be left with "no choice but to kill her." 's Jennifer Sisko]] Sisko concedes than he cannot bear the death of a second Jennifer Sisko, and agrees to attempt her rescue. During a brief cut to Terok Nor Jennifer Sisko arrives at Intendant Kira's quarters, and the Intendant informs Jennifer that her husband has been killed. Back on the raider, O'Brien - or rather "Smiley," as he's reminded Sisko to address him - explains that Jennifer despises her late husband, who was much better at fighting than leading. Finally the two of them transport to a rebel base, where a new mission is under discussion. As Bashir looks on Sisko with a gimlet eye, Tuvok points out that they all thought Captain Sisko dead, and at that point Jadzia saunters in to give Sisko a kiss of gratitude, a slap across the face for letting her think that he was dead, and a question: "are you coming or not?" Sisko hangs back so that Smiley can explain to him that Jadzia is Sisko's mistress. On Terok Nor, the Intendant is ordering gratuitous executions of Terran slaves as an incentive for improving unacceptably low levels of productivity. Garak suggests that she's been in a foul humor... ever since Captain Sisko was killed. The rebels are restless about the impending completion of the sensor array, a suspicious Jadzia is telling Sisko that he ought to abandon the rebellion, and Sisko insists (over Bashir's objections) that Jennifer's rescue, not her death, is their next objective. In the next scene we see Rom at Terok Nor, informing the Intendant that Sisko is alive... and that he has information that will lead to Sisko's recapture. As a result Sisko and Smiley are surrounded by decloaking Alliance ships en route to Terok Nor, captured, and taken to the station. The first thing Sisko does upon leaving the airlock is to kiss the Intendant passionately, and they briefly discuss the likelihood of his execution. Kira then moves onto O'Brien and chastises him for betraying the Alliance. After Smiley explains that he did it because he wanted to be free, Kira contemptuously orders him sent to Ore Processing, and she leads Sisko back to her quarters. Once there she explains to him that since she can't trust him, it will be a matter of time before she needs to "dispose of" him. Later Jennifer arrives, accompanied by Garak, who leaves no doubt as to his hatred of Sisko. After Garak leaves, Ben and Jennifer spar over Ben's bellicosity and womanizing, and Ben puts that to a stop by explaining that he's on the station to rescue her. After more arguing, Ben uses the adversarial nature of their marriage as a wedge to suggest that she's working for the Alliance as a response to his leadership of the rebellion, and finally asks her to defect as an alternative to slavery. Sisko then uses a subdermal communicator to alert Smiley to his progress and disables the guards on the Intendant's quarters, while Smiley creates a diversion to get himself and several slaves out of Ore Processing. Jennifer ultimately agrees to follow Ben - though only after insisting that she still hates him - and the two of them meet up with Smiley and the (former) slaves in the Habitat Ring. The lot of them proceed to the airlock where Rom's shuttle is docked, only to discover Rom's corpse hanging from the airlock door, by a dagger through the chest. On the verge of being overpowered by the Intendant and her men and with no obvious means of leaving Terok Nor, the rebels head back to Ore Processing with Jennifer in tow. Once there the rebels engage in a firefight with the guards, and after promising Jennifer that he will get her off the station, Sisko starts manipulating a console, explaining to Smiley that he hopes the designer of the Mirror Universe Terok Nor is the same Cardassian who designed Deep Space 9. The Intendant and the troops with her ultimately force entry to the rebels' haven in Ore Processing, where she orders the rebels (excepting Jennifer) killed - only to have Sisko tell her that doing so would be a mistake... because he has initiated the station's auto-destruct sequence. Thinking that he's bluffing, the Intendant points out to Sisko that he doesn't know the needed command authorization code, at which point he proves her wrong. When she tries to stop the sequence, she discovers that Sisko has changed the command code, and offers to let him off the station if he will give her the new code. He demands that he and his companions be let off the station first, and the Intendant capitulates, closing with an oath to Sisko that she will hunt him down. After the trip from Terok Nor to the rebel base, Jennifer inists on knowing who Ben really is. Commander Sisko tells her that she can ask Smiley for the details, and then the two of them say their goodbyes. Background Information *This episode was filmed after "Improbable Cause", but before "The Die is Cast". *Again following the TOS episode "Mirror, Mirror" and the DS9 episode "Crossover" into the mirror universe. *This episode features the only reference to the Romulans of the mirror universe. *''Star Trek: Voyager's Tim Russ plays the mirror version of his ''Voyager character Tuvok here. His Voyager co-star Robert Picardo guest-stars in DS9 in the fifth season episode "Doctor Bashir, I Presume". Links and References Guest Stars *Andrew Jordt Robinson as Elim Garak (mirror) *Felecia M. Bell as Jennifer Sisko (mirror) *Max Grodénchik as Rom (mirror) *John Patrick Hayden as Cardassian Overseer *Dennis Madalone as Marauder *Tim Russ as Tuvok (mirror) References COMMA-SEPARATED LIST OF ITEMS REFERENCED IN EPISODE (BUT NOT YET MENTIONED IN SUMMARY OR CHARACTERS) Category:DS9 episodes de:Durch den Spiegel nl:Through the Looking Glass